My Brother's Best Friend
by AKay1297
Summary: Mel has known her brother's best friend has had a thing for her for a while. But recently, his flirting was starting to have an impact on her. What is going on between them? Will she be able to sort out her feelings with everything else going on in her life?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is my first fic, so please let me know what you think!**

Charlie needed some serious killing. He was literally thirty five minutes late. I mean, seriously, how hard is it to remember you have a kid sister who needs a ride home from ballet? Okay, sure, Charlie was never the most punctual, but come on.

Finally a car pulled up. But it wasn't Charlie's. Confused, I walked up. I knew I recognized the car, but I couldn't remember from where. And then it hit me.

Dez.

Who was almost as bad as Charlie. _Are you sure_? That nagging little voice hadn't gone away since the night of the fire. Why not? That question was still hanging in the air between us. And honestly, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Which bugged me. On the upside of that, my skating had gotten much better in the past few days. But something had definitely changed between me and Dez. I almost… liked him. It was weird.

He rolled down the window. "Hey." He sounded nervous, though I couldn't for the life of me figure out why.

"Where's Charlie?" I asked.

"He sent me instead." Dez shrugged. "Do you want a ride?"

I definitely didn't want to walk home, so I guess I had to accept Dez's offer. I rolled my eyes and opened the door to his car. As soon as I was buckled in, Dez started to drive off. Thankfully, the beginning of the ride was silent. But only the beginning.

"You come up with anything yet?" Dez asked, after about fifteen minutes of driving.

I rolled my eyes and prayed my voice stayed even. "Nope."

"So, then, why not?"

"Are you gonna keep asking that until I give you an answer?" I asked, outwardly giving off the impression I wanted a no, but secretly hoping for a yes. So, okay, maybe I did like him. Because if I couldn't give him an answer, maybe he would finally do something about the fact that neither of us could think of a reason we shouldn't be together.

"I don't know." Dez's hands tightened slightly on the wheel. Oddly enough, I could always tell what he was generally feeling. He didn't speak much, which I already knew, but I could usually figure out from everything else how he felt. And right now, he was nervous. "Maybe."

I thought of telling him that I would really never think of a reason why not, but I knew it would be game over if I said that. There was no going back. And even if I did have feelings for him, dating him was a bad idea. He was Charlie's best friend. Then again, Charlie had wanted to go out with my best friend. Maybe he'd be okay with it.

"Can I ask you a question?" Dez asked, still looking as nervous as he had looked the entire ride.

I pondered, wondering if there was some way I could say no. "Um, sure."

"One date." He said it as a statement.

"Okay, not a question," I said, hoping to delay what I knew was coming.

"Will you go on one date with me?" I glanced at him and now I saw a little hope mixed in with the nerves. He was hopeful. And as much as I wanted to, I couldn't say no to the hope in his eyes.

"Why would I want to do that?" I shot back, despite already knowing the answer.

"I don't know, to pay me back for the ride?" He replied. "Or… maybe just because you want to?"

It was that last question that did me in. Maybe just because I wanted to. Well, he was right. I did want to. It was strange. I was seeing a new side of Dez, and it was confusing. But I liked it. Not only could he be Charlie's best friend, but he could be a sweet guy who cared about his dog Calvin who'd been hit by a car, or who could tell me to turn the flash off my camera because Ansel Adams never used flash, or who was making my head dizzy with new information. But after he said that, I couldn't bring myself to even stall not denying him.

"Fine," I found myself saying. "I'll go."

He nodded calmly, but I saw his hands relax on the wheel. He pulled into my driveway. "We're here." He stopped in the middle of the driveway for me to get out. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, not sure what we were waiting for.

"Friday night at seven." I said suddenly, needing to put it out there. "You free?"

He nodded slowly again. I nodded sharply back. "Pick me up." I said, then yanked my door open and stepped out onto my driveway. I started walking towards my door, but didn't get more than three steps before I turned and walked to the driver's side window. He rolled it down slowly, just looking at me. "Thank you," I said simply, then walked to my front door.

Friday night at seven. I had a date with Dez.


	2. Chapter 2

"You have a _what_?" I swear, Ginny looked like her head was about to explode. I glanced over at Boo, who's eyes appeared to be half out of their sockets, and then at Sasha, who was as shocked as her cool demeanor allowed her to be.

"I have a date." I said simply, knowing that wasn't the part they were so fixated on, but somehow their scrutiny made me want to squirm. I didn't like their close inspection of my life. It was hard to imagine them being any more upset than they had been when they found out about my skating, or at least Ginny, but they almost looked like they were more upset now.

"You don't have a date," Boo argued. "You have a date _with Dez_."

I shrugged, trying to look my normal nonchalant when in reality I was freaking out, and Friday was still four days away.

"Don't shrug this away, Melanie Segal!" Ginny yelled. "This is not something you can shrug away!"

"She's right," Sasha interjected, leaning against the door in her apartment bedroom. I loved the apartment. We stayed there all the time, not that our parents knew. But it had become a little harder since a giant spider had taken up residence in Sasha's bathroom. Roman had tried to kill it, and Mr. and Mrs. Jordan, but the thing refused to die. I had this theory that Sasha was secretly feeding it. Then again, I'm pretty sure spiders were one of the many things Sasha could''t stand, so there went that idea. Still, it entertained me and took my mind off Dez when I needed it. "C'mon, Mel, admit it. You like Dez."

"No!" I said, almost genuinely panicked. I had yet to admit those feelings to myself for sure, so there was no way in hell I was going to admit them to someone else. "I only agreed to it because he wouldn't drop the subject and I couldn't come up with a reason why not."

"You couldn't come up with a reason why not?" Boo asked cautiously.

"No."

"So then why don't you just go out with him to see if anything happens? Maybe you'll like him. Not that you should, cause it's _Dez_, but at least it would prove to everyone at school that you're not lesbian." This came from Sasha, which really didn't surprise me. She and Roman were happy together, and so were Boo and Carl, despite Jeff's recent attempts to draw Boo away, and now they both wanted Ginny and I in relationships, too. Ginny had Frankie, who was giving her art lessons, and I guess that left me with… Dez. I knew something was up with Ginny though. She wasn't being her usual perky self. Everything about her was perky. Fannie even made her wear two bras when we danced. But she wasn't like that anymore. Well, Fannie still made her wear the extra bra, but she just always seemed sad. But that was a problem for another day. Ginny looked a little preoccupied with accepting the fact that I had a date with Dez.

"I am going out with him to shut him up." I said, trying to look convincing. Judging by their faces, it wasn't working out very well.

"Sure, you are," Sasha said, then turned and headed down the stairs as Michelle called our class in to start. Boo and Ginny each gave me a look as they headed out of the dressing room, too. I kind of wished I hadn't told them until after the date. Then. if it went badly, they'd never even know about it. And now I knew they were going to bug me on Saturday until I told them what happened. Yipee.

Dez didn't know how he was going to break the news to Charlie. Just like Mel protected Charlie from bitchy ex-girlfriends, Charlie protected Mel from guys who weren't worthy of her. And Dez knew he wasn't worthy. Then again, no one was worthy in Charlie's eyes, so why not him, who Charlie knew and was friends with? Who better to take his sister out?

Despite his rationalization, Dez knew he had to tell her brother sometime. It's not like he could avoid Charlie, because then Charlie would obviously know something was up, and then the cat was definitely out of the bag. He would just have to keep it to himself for a little while until he could figure out how to do it and not hurt Charlie's feelings or risk pissing him off.

"Hey." Dez turned to find Charlie standing behind him.

"Hey, what's up?" Dez asked.

"You know how Mel has practice again today?" Dez nodded slowly. He payed closer attention to Mel then he ever cared to admit to anyone, even himself.

"Well, I have to stay home. I'm grounded. Even from picking Mel up. Will you do it again?" Dez rolled his eyes. Charlie was one of the biggest flakes on the planet. But Dez knew he was serious about not going to pick Mel up, and he didn't want her to have no ride, so he nodded.

"Yeah, I'll go get her."

Seriously, Charlie? Again? I thought. Yet again, my brother, slash Dez, was twenty minutes late. I guess it was more Charlie's fault than Dez's. Charlie didn't tell him until late the day before that he couldn't pick me up, so I couldn't blame Dez. But Charlie was definitely getting a good ass-kicking when I got home. Definitely.

But a minute later, when a car pulled up, it wasn't Charlie's. It was Dez's. Again. He stopped, and I reluctantly pulled open the car door. "What, are you officially my driver now?"

"I guess." He said. "Charlie couldn't make it again."

"Really, Sherlock?" I asked, sarcasm dripping from my tone.

"Yes, really," he said, putting the car in drive and pulling out. The beginning of the ride was, again, thankfully quiet. I wasn't sure I was really ready to talk to him about Friday. I knew I was going to eventually, but I had hoped the next time I would see him would be Friday when he picked me up. I knew I would have spent hours obsessing over what to wear and how to do my hair, where he might be taking me, what we would do. If he would kiss me. Because even though I didn't want to, I was starting to have to admit to myself that I did like him. A lot. Not that I would tell him that.

"So, why did my brother skip out again?" I asked, feeling the weight of the awkward silence.

"Because he's Charlie," Dez said simply. I knew it was Dez's nature, but I was starting to wish he said more.

"I guess." I turned my head towards the window and rested it against the pane. If he wanted more out of me, he'd have to ask.

"So." I kept my head against the window. In Dez's world, "so" was a valid conversation starter. But not in mine. "C'mon, Mel, let me ask you a question."

"Fine." I rolled my head towards him.

"What's your favorite kind of food?" I hadn't actually expected him ask what I wanted. Clearly, I wasn't giving him enough credit.

"I like Italian," I said finally.

"Okay. We're here." He said as we pulled in my driveway, like I didn't know. I stepped out of the car.

"Thanks. For the ride." He nodded as I walked away.

"Oh." I turned when I heard him speak again. "Wear something nice." Something nice? What the hell did that mean? I had two more days until Friday. I could figure it out and get through it. As long as Charlie remembered to pick me up the next two days.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I've had this chapter in my head and written for a while, but I wanted to give props to Mystapleza for almost guessing exactly what would happen. Good job! :)**

Friday was finally here. My day off from practice. And my date with Dez. Which I was still having trouble wrapping my head around.

"You ready, girl?" Boo tapped my shoulder as we walked out of school. "You have to go home and start getting ready."

"It's only two o'clock, Boo. I don't need to start getting ready for at least three hours." I tried to convince myself that I wouldn't go home and fidget and change my outfit ten times, but I wasn't doing a very good job of it.

The doorbell rang at pretty much exactly seven. Did that mean Dez was nervous? I was nervous. I had no idea why, but I was so nervous I was literally at the point where I couldn't deny it even to myself. I had gotten really good at not admitting things to myself over the past few days. I stepped down the stairs as fast as I could considering Dez's dress code for the night.

I opened the door and he stood there, wearing dark jeans, a tucked in button down shirt, and a dark blazer. Strange, considering his normal style was loose t shirts and cargo shorts. I had never, ever seen him tuck in a shirt. But it looked really good on him. Like really good. My gaze finally reached his face, and I found his eyebrows raised.

"Whoa," he said, looking at me. I felt the urge to both blush and smile at the same time. I had dressed nice enough, I guessed. I had bought this simple, blue dress with spaghetti straps specifically for this. And because I was already tall, I had gone with flat leather boots. It embarrassed me a little that I bought new clothes for a date, but I had. It also embarrassed me that I had spent hours at the store the day before trying things on. So, Boo was half right.

I nodded toward the door. "So, um, do you want to go?"

He nodded, still looking at my dress. I think that time I actually did blush. I stepped out into the cool night air and almost started down the front steps, but he held out his elbow like a gentleman, and I didn't have the heart to deny him. So I linked my arm through his and he walked me around to the passenger side of his car. He opened the door for me, and I slid in as gracefully as I could considering I rarely wore dresses of any kind. I didn't fall out or rip my dress, do I was calling it a success. I glanced around while he walked around to the other side of the car. He had cleaned up for me. My heart almost skipped a beat at that. He had actually cleaned for me. There weren't McDonald's bags on the floor and school and sports equipment stuffed in the backseat. I rolled my eyes as I found a crumpled paper towel at my feet. So it wasn't perfect, but it was the thought that counted, right?

He slid in probably much more gracefully than I did, and started the ignition. As we pulled out of the driveway, I tried to think of something to talk about. Normally I didn't mind the silence, because it meant I didn't have to deal with him, and by extension, my feelings for him. But tonight I wanted to talk. I wanted to get to know him, to find out if he liked green better than blue, or chunky or creamy, or the filling or the cookie. I opened my mouth to ask him one of the multitude of questions floating around in my mind, but he beat me to it.

"So, where's Charlie? Did he have a heart attack when you told him?"

I knew that subject was going to come up some time. "I didn't tell him. I just wanted to wait, you know?" I continued on, not wanting to know if he had told my brother or not. I couldn't imagine Charlie keeping it a secret if Dez had told him, but it was still a fear I harbored. "And he's driving the bunheads around. They suspiciously all needed help running errands at about four o'clock today."

He just nodded. We were silent for a moment or two, listening to the station he kept his radio perpetually tuned to. It was one of those stations that played "variety" but really only played popular music and then a song from about ten years ago once a week. We had apparently lucked out, as "Hot in Herre" by Nelly was their "oldie" for the week.

"How'd you get the dress?" He asked. I figured he'd had about enough of the awkward silence. I would have ended it first, but I had no idea what to say. Which only made the silence that much more awkward.

"Oh, um, yesterday Michelle and Truly and I went out." I was embarrassed that I'd bought new clothes for a date, especially a date with _Dez_, but I was absolutely mortified that I had enlisted my dance teacher and the town fashion designer in my search. Truly had proved to be extremely helpful. Michelle, on the other hand, kept getting distracted by clothes and jewelry. So I owed it to Truly for helping me pick out the outfit. I was surprised I looked as, well, normal, as I did, because Truly was not known for her conventional fashion designs.

I glanced over at him to judge his reaction and I saw a small smile flit around his lips before disappearing.

"How'd you get the blazer and jeans?… And shirt?" I asked, hoping to hear something similar to what I had said to him. Why, I didn't know. He was a guy. Guys didn't go shopping for new clothes to wear on a date. But for some inexplicable reason, I wanted him to say that he had.

"Just something I had laying around." Laying around? Dez had blazers and jeans laying around? What, was he like some super insurance agent who dressed like a surfer by day and a professional by night? As ridiculous as that theory was, I was instantly curious about why he had clothes that were so not his normal style laying around at his house.

The rest of the ride passed in almost complete silence. The radio station had reverted back to pop hits, and Dez opened his window to let the breeze rush into the car. We could hear the crickets of early evening and see the flashes of lightening bugs in the air. As far as nights for a date went, this one was pretty good. If we got bored of whatever it was he had planned, we could always come outside and just sit. Somehow I doubted Dez would be opposed to that, considering his laid-back attitude.

He pulled off the main road and down a small side street that I had never been on before. He had driven me straight out of Paradise, and now we were parking outside a building that looked like an old barn. I shot him a curious glance, but he only smiled mysteriously in return. More questions popped up in my head, but the first and foremost was why were we at a barn on a date?


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! I haven't decided if I want to go on with this story after this chapter or not, so please review and let me know what you think!**

Dez held out his arm again as we walked into the barn. As nice as it was, I kept hoping he'd hold my hand. That would've felt more… intimate, I guess. I just wanted some definite sign from him that he liked me and was into this. I mean, more than just the asking me out about twenty times. Because that could have just been him enjoying the chase. I was hard to get, and a lot of the time, guys liked it until they caught you, and then they got bored.

We reached the door and stopped. He turned and looked at me. "You ready?"

I simply nodded and he reached forward to open the door and then gesture for me to go in ahead of him. I stepped inside and looked around in awe. What had appeared to be a barn- a well taken care of barn, but a barn nonetheless- from the outside was actually an art gallery. I glanced around, taking in the photographs that were currently on display. I was having a weird sense of deja vu, but I couldn't figure out what it was about. Then I spotted a photograph of a river winding its way through a forest, a mountain hulking in the background. Trees lined the hills the river cut through, and the mountain's point dipped into a swirling mass of clouds in the sky. I had seen that picture before.

Finally it hit me. I turned to Dez in shock. "Ansel Adams?" He shot me one of his rare grins. I barely ever saw him smile, much less grin the way he was then.

"Yeah, you know," he said. "I figured you could see what photography looks like without the flash. Hopefully it'll help you with your work." I couldn't help but smile back at him. We had an inside joke. And even though it was somewhat insulting to me, it was an inside joke that I knew he meant in a sweet way. He had taken something from a conversation we'd had and turned it into a date idea.

We spent the next hour or so walking around the gallery, looking at photography. The gallery was painted all white, and the photographs appeared to have been placed on the wall with great thought. All the photos had their own space, and none overshadowed the pieces the gallery owned. The Ansel Adams photographs were on loan from a private collector, and were quite a bit more expensive and more impressive than the art that was usually displayed at this gallery, but somehow it was all set up in a perfect balance, so that nothing outshone anything else. We perused canyons cut into rocks by now-stagnant water, trees laying crooked shadows on rocks, waterfalls flowing through trees like mist on a cool fall night. The composition of each piece was incredible. Besides being an amateur recreational photographer, I had no interest in the arts. But Adams photography captivated me and made me see some of the beauty in art.

Eventually we found ourselves outside again. It was nearly nine o'clock and the crickets were in full swing, buzzing away to fill the night air with a constant hum. The barn was situated on a well-mown lawn that lead down to a sprawling lake. The other shore was barely visible in the light darkness that is always associated with summer nights, but was probably fairly clear in the daylight. We walked along the grass at the edge of the lake, side by side in the night. It was slightly breezy out, and my hair was gently floating out behind me. I don't know why I remember all the details from that night, but I can't seem to erase them from my brain. We walked in comfortable silence for a little while, but then my curiosity got the better of me.

"So, how did you find this place?" I asked. It was just one of the things that was puzzling me.

"I asked Greta if there was anyone showing Ansel Adams around," he said. "She got on her computer and found this place." Greta was one of the two owners of Paradise's art gallery. Unlike this gallery, our major pieces consisted of high school kid's art projects. But it was part of the town and we all loved it anyways.

I shook my head. "You never stop surprising me, Dez." He smiled unexpectedly again. "What?" I asked. I didn't think I had said anything.

"You called me Dez," he said, still smiling like a little boy.

"Well, yes, that is your name," I replied, not sure why that was such a big deal.

"You've never called me by my name before." I thought back to all the conversations we'd had. There had to be at least one time when I had said his name. I had said it in conversations with other people, like Charlie and the bunheads, but I couldn't think of a single time I had said it to Dez's face.

"I guess you're right." I looked up into his face, trying to figure him out. He was somewhat of a mystery to me. All this time, I've thought of him as the big dopey guy who was friends with Charlie. But then he goes and takes me to see Ansel Adams and walk along the side of a lake in the moonlight. If there's anything more romantic than that, I challenge Hollywood to write a romantic comedy about it. I didn't think there was anything that could have made me any happier at that moment.

Dez reached down and grabbed my hand, twining our fingers together.

I stood corrected.

The heat of his hand was warming my body, from my fingertips up my arm and slowly reaching every part of my body. I wasn't upset, but it almost felt like he was comforting me. I felt safe with him.

I was so distracted trying to understand his motives that I didn't notice he'd shifted closer, until I could feel the heat emanating from his body all along the front of mine. I was tall, but I still had to tip my head back slightly to see his face. He wasn't overly tall, but his body was covered in bulky yet toned muscle. There I was, distracted again. He took that moment to lean down the scant inches needed and place his lips over mine.

It was a pleasant kiss, our lips touching gently for a few seconds. He didn't try to deepen it or pull me closer. I hadn't expected a kiss like that from a boy like him, who looked like he didn't have a gentle bone in his body. Too soon, in my opinion, he pulled back and looked down at me. We stood like that for a minute, our fingers still intertwined, my body resting lightly against his. Then he smiled slightly. "Just wanted to get that over with."

He stepped back and began walking again, practically tugging me behind him. I was so stunned I didn't realize we were back at his car again. "We're going home?"

"Sort of," he smiled at my confusion. "I'm going home." Great, more riddles. Couldn't he just spit out what the hell we were doing? Though I knew part of the appeal for Dez was seeing my reaction when he revealed something new to me.

Not long after, we were back in Paradise, pulling into Dez's driveway. "Please don't tell me you expect me to stay here tonight." I warned.

He laughed. It was more of a rumble than an actual laugh, and the sound had roughly the same effect on me that his hand had. "No, we're here for food."

"Food? It's ten o'clock."

"Well, if you don't want to eat it now, you can take it home."

"I thought we were going out for Italian." I _was_ surprised we were back at his house.

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, a few days ago, you asked what kind of food I like, and I said Italian."

"Good logic, but no." He pushed open his front door and let me inside. Instantly, I was hit with the heavenly aroma of my favorite but banned food: spaghetti in alfredo sauce. Madam Fanny had a strict no carbs rule. Not that any of us actually adhered to it, but it was a delusion we let Fanny have.

"Spaghetti with alfredo?" I asked suspiciously, wondering if he had talked to Charlie to find out what my favorite food was.

"Yep." He struggled with a smile and lost. I could tell he was extremely proud of himself.

"How did you know?"

He stepped up in front of me and grabbed my hand. "I know everything about you, Mel."

In that moment, it was the perfect thing to say. We could end up dating and then break up and I'd think it was extremely creepy, but there was nothing better he could have said to me then. If I was a girl prone to melting, I would have melted. But I have more backbone than that, so I settled for a smile. "Really?"

"You might think this is recent," he began. "And it might be for you. But for me, I've liked you for a while, Melanie."

Okay, I hate to say it, but I melted then. I felt like a complete cliche, but I did it anyways. Dez was just a bunch of surprises, and while I knew he'd never be what I expected, I never thought it would be in a good way. Which just made everything that much more surprising and exciting. I glanced around the room, trying to get a better sense of Dez by his house. But my eyes landed on a clock and I realized that I had ballet tomorrow, and Fanny would not be happy if I was late.

"I hate to say this," I said. "But I have to get home. I have to be up in time for ballet tomorrow."

"It's fine." I saw he truth of that statement in his eyes. He really didn't mind. Which only won him more knight in shining armor points. "I'll drive you home."

Even though our night had been cut somewhat short, the quiet car ride through the night was the perfect end to the perfect date.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey, guys! First of all, I want to thank everyone who is still reading and commenting. It means so much! Yet again, I'm sorry I haven't been posting longer chapters, but I've had a family situation I've been going though, so my life has been extremely busy lately. So, it really bugged me on the show how they never resolved the issues between Mel and Ginny, so I wanted to write this chapter just to fix that in my mind. Thank you all again!**

I opened the door to my house, smiling as I walked inside. Dez had kissed me again on my doorstep. It wasn't much different from the first kiss, but it had seemed a lot different to me. I guess I was kind of expecting it, so I was actually able to participate. But it ended again, in my opinion, much too soon and he waved as he walked back to his car. I waited until his car had disappeared from sight before entering the house, just in case Charlie happened to look out the window to see.

"Where have you been?" Charlie asked when I walked into the kitchen a moment later.

"Out," I said. That was kind of how most of my conversations with Charlie went.

"Really, Sherlock?" He shot back. "I never would have guessed that one."

"Shut up, Charlie! Where were you when you were supposed to pick me up from ballet this last week?" Not that I really minded Dez driving me, but I felt the need to make my brother feel bad.

"I sent Dez." He shrugged.

"Wow, okay, I guess that makes your lack of brotherly love okay then," I replied sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and walked out of the kitchen. I wasn't tired- I was too wired from the date- but I figured the best place to avoid Charlie was my room. I pushed open the door and rolled my eyes again. I should have guessed. The bunheads were sitting on my bed, flipping through my magazines and brushing their hair. "Hey, guys."

They all looked up at the sound of my voice.

"So how was it?" Boo stood up off the bed and came to stand in front of me as I began pulling clothes out of the closet.

"It was…" I felt more than saw three pairs of eyes fixed on me in extreme interest. I suddenly felt like telling them it was crappy, that I didn't have any fun at all. But I knew they would dig the shameful truth out of me in the end, so I figured I'd just get it out of the way. "Okay, guys, it was awesome. He knows me better than any guy I've ever met before." I was careful not to saying 'anyone I know', because I knew the bunheads would be offended, but in some ways I _felt_ like Dez knew me better than anyone.

"Are you going on another date?" Ginny's wide eyes bored into my back as I stepped into my bathroom to change, though I left the door open so I could talk to them.

"I don't know," I admitted. "We didn't really talk about it. We didn't really talk about anything, actually."

"Didn't talk, huh?" I could hear the suggestiveness Sasha injected into her voice, and I knew what she was thinking, and it caused me to roll my eyes again. Someone once told me that your eyes would fall out if you rolled them too many times, and I told them that I would be eyeless by twenty.

"We did more than kiss," I told her pointedly.

"More than kiss?" They asked in unison. It took me a minute, but I finally got what they meant.

"No! I mean we didn't just kiss. We walked around and went to an art gallery and had Italian at his house." I flopped down on my bed, now clad in blue plaid pajama bottoms and a baggy old t shirt. I was pretty sure if Dez saw this side of me he'd want to marry me, but I wasn't quite ready to be that close to him. But, oddly enough, the thought didn't disgust me the way I'd hoped it would. What did that mean?

"That's… surprisingly sweet," Sasha mused. "Weird. Where do you think he got the inspiration?"

"The night of the fire," I said automatically. "I took a picture with flash, and he told me I should turn the flash off because Ansel Adams never used flash. So the art gallery had a show with Ansel Adams photography."

"Awww!" Ginny cooed. "That is so cute! I wish Frankie would do that…"

"You gotta make a move," Sasha shook her head. "Watching you moon over him like a puppy with a broken leg is just sad."

Ginny recoiled, looking upset. Sasha rolled her eyes.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Ginny. I forgot…"

"What?" I sat up, sensing there was something I'd missed. And judging by their expressions of guilt and sadness, they knew it was something big. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing." I raised my eyebrows at them.

"Do I have to go Cleosmacktra on you guys? Are you gonna make me?"

"Alright, fine." Ginny sat up and stared at me. I thought back to ballet class a few days ago, when I had thought about how unhappy Ginny looked. Maybe this was why. "I had sex with Frankie."

"What?" I bolted to my feet, yelling. "How could you not tell me this?"

"The same way you could not tell me about you being friends with Cozette, or about your skating, or, God, even about Dez! What happened to us Mel?"

"Where is this coming from?" Neither of us noticed as Sasha and Boo quietly backed out of the room and shut the door. We didn't even notice a moment later when Charlie could be heard through the door, and was muffled by a hand over his mouth before he could say 'what the fu-'. We still didn't notice when his shoes could be heard dragging along the floor accompanied by muffled words.

"It's coming from the fact that we're barely even friends anymore, Mel!" Ginny sat down on the bed, frustrated. "You used to be my best friend. We told each other everything. Why did that stop?"

"When did you do it with Frankie?" I countered. I don't know why I said it really, but the anger I felt from Ginny's attack made me want to lash out. She visibly shrunk back. I rolled my eyes and mentally beat myself up. "What happened, Gin?"

"He still hasn't talked to me." Her shoulders slumped. "I even wrote him a letter. A thank you note."

I sat down next to her. "You wrote him a thank you note?"

She looked over at me, seeing the slight smile on my face and she laughed. The tears threatened to spill over from her eyes onto her cheeks, but she laughed anyways. But the laugh soon faded and she lowered her head to stare at her lap. "Yeah. And he didn't talk to me even after the letter."

"Ginny?" She turned her head to face me again. "You know he's an ass, right?"

"I wish," she muttered. "He's not though. He's a good guy."

"I know, but it's the best friend's job to bitch about the guy." I smiled at her when she looked over, uncertain. "You never stopped being my best friend, Gin. I just didn't want to hurt you. I know how much you hate Cozette, so I didn't want to hurt your feelings by being friends with her. But I don't want to stop being friends with either of you."

She turned away.

"Hey," I said, drawing her attention back to me. "She will never mean as much to me as you do, Gin. You're my best friend forever." We smiled and hugged each other, staying like that for a minute. When we finally pulled back, we just sat and stared at each other.

"So what do you think is going to happen with you and Dez?" She asked.

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

"Well, what do you want to happen?" I knew she was phrasing it casually to not tip the perilous balance we'd just fixed, but she did want the truth about what I felt.

"Honestly?" She nodded. "I like him, Gin. It's weird, because he's Charlie's best friend, and he's totally not the kind of guy I like, but he's sweet and funny, and oddly enough, smart."

Suddenly, we heard my bedroom door bang against the wall. We turned to see what was happening, only to find Charlie standing there, livid. "I'm going to kill him," he said, before turning and striding down the hallway and down the stairs.

_Well, shit_, I thought.

**Cliffhanger! I will definitely be continuing this fic after this chapter, but reviews would still be awesome. Thanks yet again!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I know I just posted a yesterday, but I just had to keep writing. The next chapter might be up soon, too. Thanks again for continuing to read and review!**

"Charlie!" I shouted, running through my house after him. "Charlie, what are you gonna go do?"

"I'm going to go kill him!" He yelled back. I had just gotten down the stairs when he slammed the door and headed outside into the night. I knew there was a very little chance that he would do actual physical violence to Dez, but I couldn't just sit around and let him face it on his own. I ran back up the stairs.

"Sasha, can you give me a ride to Dez's?" Sasha just nodded, and we hurried back through my house.

When Sasha dropped me off at Dez's, Charlie was already there. He slammed the door to his car and walked purposefully towards Dez's front door, anger apparent in his long strides. I looked regretfully at Sasha, then bolted out of the car to try and reach Charlie before he reached the door. I heard Sasha's car speed away, and I couldn't blame her. Charlie's anger was usually natural disaster-like when it boiled over. And it looked like it was going to end up being that way.

"Charlie?" Dez looked confused as he opened his door to find his best friend on his front step, looking like an angry cat.

"Charlie, stop!" I yelled, panting as I reached them.

"Mel?" Dez only looked more confused. "What are you guys doing here?"

"You took my sister out?" Charlie looked angry. Which I know I said before, but Charlie didn't really emote, so it was still shocking for me.

"What?" Dez looked taken aback. "No, I didn't."

It was like a tidal wave hit me in the face. Dez was denying it. He wouldn't admit to my brother that he'd taken me on a date earlier that night. I'm not sure what my face looked like, but I would imagine I looked somewhat like a bunny who had just had his leg run over by a car. I turned away and ran back down the road.

I couldn't believe this was happening. He was embarrassed by me! No, that wasn't right. He was more than embarrassed. I was embarrassed. But if I needed to, I would have admitted to Charlie that Dez and I had a thing. But apparently I would have been wrong about that. Dez and I didn't have a thing. If he couldn't even admit it to Charlie, why would he admit it anyone else?

I didn't really matter to him. Clearly tonight had just been a pity date. I didn't need pity. I had my complete lack of appeal to fall back on. _C'mon, Mel_, I told myself, staring around me at the empty road. _You're better than this. You don't need him_. I heard a car pull up next to me and I wiped the tears I wasn't even aware were seeping from my eyes off my face. I shouldn't be crying, but apparently my body didn't care about that.

"Get in." I turned around to see Michelle sitting in the front seat of her car.

I laughed a little. "What are you doing here?" But my backbone was starting to break, and I really just wanted someone to talk to. So I got in the car.

"Wanna tell me what's going on?" Michelle asked.

"Why, so you can give me advice?" I replied.

"I don't know why I try," she said. "I barely know how to advise myself, let alone you girls. But that's not going to stop me from trying to help."

"Thanks, Michelle," I said, smiling. I knew there were other people I could talk to about this, but for some reason, at that moment, Michelle's special brand of abrasiveness and sensitivity seemed like the perfect medicine for my aching heart. That night had been one hell of a roller coaster ride. "But is it cool if you just drive me home for now?"

Michelle searched my face for a moment, but nodded. Right now, I just wanted to lick my wounds and cry myself to sleep. And then tomorrow I would deal with the shit that had hit the fan on the Charlie and Dez front.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay, I know some people are going to hate me for the next few chapters, but I promise everything is going to work out! Please review!**

"Think about it this way," Boo said as we sat down in English the next morning. "Now that he proved he's a jerk, you won't have to be embarrassed about going out with him."

I glared at her. "Thanks, Boo, that's so helpful." I rolled my eyes and rested my head against my books. I was planning on taking my daily English class nap, but if I fell asleep, I might start dreaming about Dez, and I was not ready for that to happen. My heart was still bleeding from the night before, and I didn't need a reminder about how stupid I was for trusting a thing he'd said.

"C'mon, Mel, I mean, it's not like you were in love with him. You'll be fine." I nodded, despite my head resting on my books, but I wasn't sure that statement was entirely accurate. I hoped to hell I wasn't in love with him, but I couldn't make any guarantees. Just one more thing to add to the pile of shit that was my life.

"I just want to forget about it for a while," I said. Boo nodded understandingly and turned back to her notebook. A paper airplane flew onto her desk, and she opened it to find "hey, beautiful" written in Carl's handwriting. I almost gagged. I hate people sometimes. And Boo and Carl were far too lovey for me. I looked over and saw them smiling at each other from across the room. "Oh, just go sit with him!" I know, I snapped, but she was doing everything I wanted but didn't have the chance to do. I wanted someone who'd send me a paper plane with "hey, beautiful" written on it, or who'd smile at me from across the room.

I turned around and saw a paper plane fall onto my desk. Alright, I'll admit, my first thought was that Dez had decided to tell Charlie and he was sending me a cute message to apologize. I opened the plane and found "hey, beautiful" scrawled inside. My heart started to pound. It was happening! I glanced up and saw Jeff smiling at me from two desks over, and my heart rate immediately decreased. When I said I wanted someone to do what Carl had done for Boo, I really should have specified that I didn't want it to be Jeff. I wanted it to be Dez.

I was perfectly content to just go about my day and try to keep the pain in. But people kept bringing it up. At lunch, Sasha actually suggested we have a pity party for me. In the last class of the day, Jeff told me he had only sent me the paper plane because he thought I looked sad and felt bad for me. And aside from that being extremely insulting, he was blushing, which made me think he wasn't really telling the truth. Ginny had hugged me so hard at my locker after school that I literally started gasping before she would let me go. And of course, Michelle kept me after ballet to talk to me and make sure I was okay. Which was oddly unusual of her, but I think there was a lot of that going on, so I let it slide.

And then I had to go home and deal with Charlie. Who, despite his good intentions, still had douche status for a while. If he hadn't gone over there, none of this would have happened. And even though I knew blaming him was the wrong thing to do, it was the easiest thing to do, so I would do it until I could handle the truth.

"Mel."

I froze where I was. What the hell was he doing in my house?

"Mel, I want to talk to you." I turned around to face none other than the guy who had bruised my unbruisable heart last night.

"Well, I don't, Dez." I found the strength to keep walking and I breezed by him on my way to the stairs. Before I could get up even the first step, his hand snaked out and grabbed my wrist. His heat radiated up my arm, just like it had the night before. Why did he have to affect me this way. It wasn't fair! The one thing I wanted most was something that didn't want me. It figured. I pulled my arm out of his grip. "Not today, Dez." I continued up the stairs, but this time he didn't follow me.

"Mel, can I please take you out Friday night?"

I couldn't believe him. He was actually asking me out again after what he'd done? But I refused to show him how much he'd hurt me. I tried to tell myself that's why I said it, but really I just wanted to hurt him as much as he'd hurt me. "I can't. I have a date with Jeff."

It occurred to me once I was safely in my bedroom that me going out with another boy on Friday night wouldn't have bothered him because he didn't like me, but it had shut him up, so I was willing to overlook that for the moment. I didn't even like Jeff, but I figured the best way to get over the non-relationship I'd had with Dez was to get back up on the horse. _Poor Jeff_, I thought. I hoped he didn't like me too much, because if he did, we were both going to end up in the same boat. A heartbroken one. Then again, I'd seen him flirting with Boo recently, so he couldn't like me that much.

Even to me, the rationalization sounded shitty, but it was, yet again, something I'd needed, so I let it slide for a little while. I was doing a lot of that at that time. I didn't realize until later that that meant that I was hurt by it more than I thought.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: First of all, so sorry for making you all wait so long for this chapter! I know it was only about a week, but it's the longest I've gone without updating, so I'm really sorry. Next, I really want to thank everyone who's still reading and reviewing. And finally, please read and enjoy! And, as usual, reviews are encouraged. I love them and they keep me inspired and happy, so thanks everyone!**

It was Friday night. Officially a week after the heartbreak. I hadn't felt right about lying to Dez, even though he so deserved it, so on Monday I had told Jeff we should go out Friday night. Especially if Dez was planning on hanging out with Charlie. Apparently my idiotic brother believed Dez and they were still friends. Charlie didn't even seem pissed me off. If Dez had to ruin our non-relationship, he should at least do it so that he'd angered Charlie too. Maybe not so they ruined their friendship, but at least so that Charlie was pissed at him for a little while. I mean, he is _my_ brother.

"You know this plan is really stupid, right?" Ginny sat on my bed, staring at me with her wide eyes.

"I had figured that, yes." I nodded, pulling a pair of jeans and a flawy top out of my closet. Unlike Dez, Jeff had suggested we do something more casual. I could dig it. I hated dressing up, anyways. _You didn't mind dressing up last Friday_. The stupid voice still refused to go away. It was infuriating, and usually wasn't even right. Unfortunately, it was right that time. Dez had gotten me to dress up and I'd liked it. But I was going out with Jeff, not Dez, and I decided that I was going to forget about him for the night. I was going to put him out of my mind and attempt to enjoy a night with Jeff. I wasn't sure that was possible, but I was sure as hell going to try.

"So, what made you come up with this plan, anyways?" Ginny flipped over on my bed and began admiring her nails. Typical Ginny. I smiled and shook my head.

"I don't know, actually. It just kind of slipped out." I sat down on the bed next to her and shrugged. "He was standing there looking so damn _cute_, and it just pissed me off!" Ginny just stared at me for a minute. I raised my eyebrows and nothing happened. I tried smiling. Still nothing. "Ginny! Where are you?"

"What? Oh." She giggled slightly. "You know you're in love with him, right?" I had known it was a possibility. I thought it was a pretty distant possibility, but I knew there was a chance. Or maybe I just wasn't willing to acknowledge that there was a bigger chance of it than that. That whole getting good at admitting things to myself thing had worn off. "What? No, I'm not." I tried playing it cool. But the truth was, Ginny's statement scared me shitless. I could feel my cheeks heating and my palms getting sweaty.

"See? You're blushing. You definitely love him." She sighed wistfully. "I wish Frankie would feel that way about me."

I rolled my eyes. "Gin, boys are dumb. They aren't even worthy of stupid or idiotic. They're just dumb. We need to forget about our guys. Hey, we should host an anti-Valentine's Day party!"

Never would I have expected myself to host a party, but Frankie had hurt Ginny and she deserved to be able to bitch about it over Rocky Road ice cream and a whiny Katherine Heigl movie. And damn it, Dez had hurt _me_! So I deserved to bitch about it over Rocky Road ice cream and a whiny Katherine Heigl movie.

"But I love Valentine's Day!" She complained. "It's so cute!"

I shook my head at her. "You are too good. You need some bad in your life." Epiphany. Literally. "Dude, you should come with me and Jeff tonight!" And she looked at me like I had lost my mind. I think I actually did, in that one instant. I was grasping for straws so I didn't have to spend a whole night alone with Jeff. And no matter what I intended, I would be comparing Jeff to Dez. I couldn't help it. Maybe Ginny was right and I was in love with him. Damn, I hoped that wasn't true. "Okay, yeah, you're right, I'm sorry."

We sat in silence for a minute or two before Ginny turned to me and spoke in that ever-chipper voice of hers. "Want me to go over and rub your date with Jeff in Dez's face? Who knows, maybe I'll burn off some of my Frankie anger."

I smiled at her, then had another epiphany. A good one this time, though. "No, that's okay. Hey, Gin, I gotta go, but I'll be back after my date with Jeff. Feel free to stay the night." I smiled and picked up my purse and walked out my front door.

I sucked in a deep breath. Remember when I said it was a good idea that I'd had? Yeah, I was starting to realize that my idea was probably not one of those. But I was going to do it anyways. Yes, I'd probably regret it, but there was a small possibility that purging my feelings for Dez wouldn't result in serious mental beating later on. So I would do it, stupid or not.

The door in front of me opened and Dez stood there, staring at me. He didn't have really any other expressions, which, right now made it rather hard to tell what he was thinking. I think my Dez-emotion mojo kind of went away last week. I took a deep breath.

"I need to say something." I waited for a response and was met with silence. "Dez?"

"What do you need to say?" He folded his arms over his chest. Okay, now I was getting the impression he was pissed. I couldn't tell you why, though.

"I love you," I blurted out. Then I realized what I said and literally slapped a hand over my mouth. I wasn't even sure if it was true, but I had said it. I really needed to get better at controlling impulses.

I stood there, wringing my hands, expecting anything from "I love you, too" to "get the hell of my doorstep and I never want to see you again". But I had never expected a kiss.

Without anymore pretense, he closed his eyes and kissed me. It ashamed me. And I really didn't want it to end. So when it seemed like he was going to pull away, I stepped closer and put my hand on the back of his neck. I guess he took that as a signal or something, because he shifted closer and deepened the kiss. It was my first real kiss. I felt his tongue in my mouth, and… I liked it. I knew it had to end sometime, so, as much as I really didn't want to, I pulled back. But it took me a minute to open my eyes.

"I love you, too, Mel." He smiled and pecked me again on the mouth.

His smile was infectious. "I know this isn't really your style, but will you go to the big Valentine's Day dance next week with me?" So much for the anti-Valentine's Day party with Ginny. I have no idea why I picked that, but for some reason, going to a dance with him seemed like the perfect time to show people we were a couple.

His smile faltered and he took a tiny step back. "Mel…" Un-fucking-believable. He was going to say no. I shook my head and turned around, angrily stalking down the yard.

Something pushed me to turn back around and say one last thing. "If there ever comes a day that you can tell people about me in public, I'll be waiting." He didn't say anything, so I turned around and decided that party was back on so I could totally cut him out of my life.

Ginny stepped down the stairs, only to see Charlie sitting on the couch, blasting some guy in a video game. She rolled her eyes. She had no clue what she ever saw in Mel's older brother. But now that she thought about it, he and Frankie were a lot alike. Shaking off those thoughts, she came down the steps and sat down on the couch next to him. "Hey, Charlie."

"What's up, Ginny?" He didn't turn towards her, but it's not like she expected any different.

"How is Dez?" She asked. She didn't want to know because she wanted to make sure Dez wasn't hurt, she wanted to know for Mel.

"He's depressed. He's pretty much emotionally dead." Ginny was impressed by his use of the word "emotionally". He had a much greater vocabulary than she would have expected from a guy like Charlie.

"I see." Ginny just nodded. And a moment later, Mel came tearing in the door, tears streaming down her face. Ginny shook her head and headed up the stairs behind Mel. Charlie tossed the controller on the couch and stood up. "And now he's actually dead."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews! I love them and they keep me writing, even though I've been super busy. So thank you! And enjoy this update! The next one shouldn't be too far away.**

"Jeff, if you plan on going out with Mel tonight, you're going to do this." Ginny dragged Jeff into the kitchen as they waited for me to come downstairs. It was about an hour after the whole scene with Dez, and though I had stopped crying, I hadn't yet fixed my makeup. So Ginny was stalling. So was I. I had told her earlier that after the argument I had with Dez, I really didn't want to go out on a date. And then I had been slapped across the face- literally, by the way- by Ginny, who had told me to stop pouting about the fact that I had two guys in my life. And yeah, okay, she did have a valid point. I couldn't complain about the fact that there were two guys that would be willing to go out with her when stupid Frankie wouldn't give her the time of day. But that was a problem for another day, and now I had to go face the horror that was my night.

I stepped into the kitchen, dreading what was to come. Charlie still wasn't home. It was just Ginny lecturing Jeff in the kitchen about our date tonight. They both glanced over as they heard my feet on the floor. I smiled shakily. It was weird, Jeff almost looked… decent. Like I said, weird. I walked up in front of them and smiled at Ginny over Jeff's shoulder. I made it a promise to myself to not show Jeff I was hurting about Dez. "You ready to go?"

He glanced uncertainly over at Ginny, who merely raised her eyebrow at him. "I… I think so," he said. "Yeah, let's go before I decide… I don't know, nevermind. Yeah, let's go." He held out his arm, just like Dez had.

Having an unwelcome sense of deja vu, I took his arm and followed him out the front door. Sure, this was probably going to be a train wreck, but so what? I mean, the beginning might have been weird, and the ending would probably be bad, but the whole in between part would be nice. And hopefully Dez would be jealous, which would just be an extra perk.

The door slammed and Ginny jumped in her seat. Charlie walked into the kitchen a moment later. "They gone?"

She nodded, unsure of what else to do. "Is Dez dead?" He shook his head, but didn't say anything. "Charlie! Why isn't he dead?"

He shrugged. "Because he actually had a decent reason."

Ginny shook her head. "Not possible."

"He didn't say he 'took Mel out' because he didn't know that meant a date," Charlie informed her. "And he didn't say yes to the dance because the principal isn't letting him go, because his friend vandalized a bunch of lockers and left him holding the paint cans."

"Some friend you are," Ginny shot back making Charlie grin. She was smart enough to know the friend had been him. It was just the sort of thing he'd do. "And stupidity isn't a decent reason. It's a birth defect."

"He's not stupid." She sent him a long, sideway look of disbelief. "He got a 2300 on his SAT, Gin. He's smart. Like, really smart."

"Whoa," Ginny said. What were they going to tell Mel?

This couldn't be happening, I thought. I was actually laughing at one of Jeff's impersonations of Tommy Lee Jones. Even before the date, I'd known he could hold his own when bantering with me. He'd done it all summer when I was taking care of and entertaining my grandpa. But I didn't think I'd ever actually enjoy his company.

"So, how have you been Mel?" He asked, looking like he genuinely cared.

"Honestly?" He nodded. "Sucky. You know Dez? Well, basically, I liked him and he liked me, and then we went on a date, and then I fell in love with him, and now he won't even acknowledge my existence. Let alone our relationship."

"So, you were dating?"

"No. Yes." I groaned. "I don't know. I don't even think I really love him. I'm sorry I'm unloading this on you, especially on a date. Feel free to tell all your friends I'm a bitch on Monday at school."

"I'm not going to do that, Mel," he said.

"Good, cause I'm pretty sure you'd have a hard time finding friends to tell." He shook his head and smiled as I grinned and the tears that had almost seeped out of my eyes slowly receded. We sat in silence for a moment, before he grabbed my , they weren't as big and hot as Dez's had been, and they were slightly clammy, but they weren't bad. "First of all, he's an idiot. And a dick. And a jerk, and an asswipe, and whatever other names you can think of for him. And second, I may not be able to replace the great Desmond, but if you want to give it a shot…" He trailed off, searching my face. I took the decision out of his hands and leaned in to kiss him. And, like his hands, it didn't set off fireworks in my head, or butterflies in my stomach, but it was nice. Like maybe Fourth of July sparklers and caterpillars.

I walked into my house, a slight smile on my face. Ginny looked up at me from her place next to Charlie on the couch. "Hey, how was it?"

It became a full-blown smile. "Nice." I continued on up on the stairs.

Ginny turned to Charlie on the couch. "We can't tell her about Dez."

"As much as I hate to say this, you're right." She thought she almost saw a smile flitting around the edges of his mouth. They sat in silence for a few minutes. "Hey, how come nothing ever happened? You know, with us."

She turned to look at his profile. She had heard once that when guys wanted to talk they said things casually and didn't look into your eyes. Apparently it was true, and she had to smile. "Because, Charlie, we're both into other people." "I'm not."

She raised her eyebrows at him, and smiled again. "But you were. You're girlfriend was the reason Mel got into her skating." "But I'm not into her anymore," he argued quietly.

"Well, you shouldn't be. She was a bitch." Ginny said, and it was true. Maybe once she'd had feelings for Charlie, but then she'd seen how hard he'd fallen and how broken his heart had been. She couldn't do that to him if she didn't like him as much as he liked her. And she couldn't do it to herself if the opposite was true. Besides, there was Frankie to think about, too.

"Just so you know," Charlie finally turned to look at her. "I think he's the stupidest guy on the face of the earth for letting go of you."

"Second stupidest,"Ginny said. "Dez let Mel go."

Charlie nodded. "Agreed."

She settled back into the cushions and smiled slightly. "But, thanks."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey, guys! So, I think this is the chapter where some of you might stop hating me for not having Dez and Mel together. :) It will happen, though, I promise. As usual, reviews are awesome and enjoy!**

It had been a while since my first date with Jeff. And yes, that did mean there were others. We were now considered a real couple in school. I had taken some shit at the beginning, but then again, so had Boo when she a Carl started dating, so I figured it was some sort of rite of passage. Dez glared at me every time he saw me in the hall. I think he was legitimately angry with me for picking Jeff over him. Not that I could blame him, but if he really liked me as much as he said, he would… okay, yeah, I couldn't picture him doing anything other than what he was doing. But that was besides the point.

I was happy with Jeff. It had been two months. Dez should just… move on.

But even thinking it caused a little hole to rip in my heart.

"I can't believe she's doing this to me," Dez said, walking down the hall next to Charlie. Charlie knew what he was talking about without having been told.

"Dude, she gave you a chance and you messed with it," Charlie shrugged. "It's your own fault, man."

"Why don't you have a problem with Jeff? You had a problem with me." Dez looked confused and slightly offended.

"Because unlike you, Jeff has never hurt my sister."

"Oh, bullshit. You had a problem with me before I was stupid." He rolled his eyes.

"Okay, fine." Charlie turned to face him. "You were my best friend. I hoped that you would know I could never stay mad at you forever, and that you'd stand up for Mel. But you didn't. Jeff did."

"I hate this," Dez grumbled, looking like a raincloud hung over his head. "We need to get you a new girl, dude," Charlie shook his head and headed down the hall. Dez stood, rooted to the spot for a few moments. He knew, on some level, Charlie was right. He couldn't stay hung up on Mel forever. So he made a choice. To let her go for real.

"You're _what_?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"I'm breaking up with you," Jeff said, uncomfortable and shoving his hands in his pockets. "This… Mel, I can't do it anymore. I can't sit here and pretend it doesn't bother me that every time we talk or hug or kiss, you're thinking about him. I can't do it."

"But I'm not I swear!" I felt the tears threatening. True, my feelings for Jeff couldn't compete with my feelings for Dez, but I had come to accept that me and Dez would never happen. I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't constantly thinking about Dez. I honestly liked Jeff, and I really didn't want it to be over. "I haven't been thinking about him in a long time." Jeff shook his head. "You and I both know that's not true, Mel. Hey, don't worry though. We can still be-"

"Friends," I said, my voice trembling slightly and I knew I had to get out of there before the tears really did come. I, Melanie Segal, could not be seen crying in the middle of the hallway. That would just completely ruin my reputation. "Yeah." I turned and hurried to the nearest bathroom, where I sunk down against the wall and bawled my eyes out. A time later I heard the door open and Sasha, Boo, and Ginny's familiar voices as they sat down around me to comfort me, but my twice-broken heart couldn't hear anything but it's own pain.

And it wasn't like I could blame this on anyone else. This was entirely my fault.

"It's Frankie, right?" Frankie turned around to come face to face with Charlie.

"Yes, I'm Frankie."

Probably not the best answer on his part, because instead of a response from Charlie, he was met with a fist to his gut and then a knee to his face.

"What the hell, dude?" Frankie asked when he could breathe again.

"You hurt Ginny," Charlie accused, staring at him like a little boy defending his dog. "Now I hurt you. We're square."

"We're square? How did I hurt Ginny?"

"You slept with her and now you won't even talk to her! That's how you hurt her." Charlie looked like he could tear the New York phone book in half, so Frankie stayed down and cautious. Even though Charlie looked like a pit bull, Frankie didn't peg him as the type of guy who would kick someone while they're down.

"Look, I didn't mean to hurt Ginny." Frankie held up his hands. "I thought she understood that what we had wasn't any kind of emotional connection. It was purely physical."

Charlie shook his head. "You're an asshole." He started to walk away, but when he heard Frankie get up, he turned around and kicked him right where it hurt the most.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for! I'm thinking right now I'm only going to do one more chapter, but if enough people like the chapter and everything, I'll consider writing some more. As usual, thank you so much for continuing to read and I know I lost some people the past few chapters with no Mel/Dez action, but I told the story the way it was in my head, and I'm so glad there's still some people out there who are reading and enjoying. Please review and enjoy!**

"How are you coping?" Michelle grabbed me after class, after hearing about everything that happened with Jeff.

"Oh, I'm fine," I smiled. Lie. Total lie. I was not fine. I was not even remotely fine. But it wasn't even the fact that Jeff and I weren't together anymore. I think I got more wrapped up in the relationship than I thought. Now that it was over, I was more missing the convenience of having a boyfriend than the happiness I got from spending time with said boyfriend. Jeff truly was a rebound.

But no, it wasn't Jeff. It was the fact that so far, in a matter of two months, two guys had rejected me. If it happened one more time, I was going to give up and truly go lesbian like half the school thought I already had. I was an unattractive person. Sure, Jeff had stayed with me for a few weeks, but clearly it had been out of pity. And Dez hadn't even admitted being with me at all.

"Mel, I've been in your place more times than you can count. I know you're not fine." Michelle gave her that dryly sarcastic look she had that always drove Miss Fanny crazy.

I groaned. "Am I unattractive? Because no guy seems to like me. You'd think if I was attractive, they'd like me."

Michelle stared at me. "You're a ballet dancer. You skate competitively. You're not an unattractive person. You're nice when it suits you and protective of your friends always. There's no way a guy wouldn't find you attractive."

"Then why do they keep rejecting me?" I know my voice broke, but I couldn't keep it back any more. Even just saying it, I felt better. I didn't need an answer, I just needed someone to understand how I felt so I could bitch to them later when I officially decided to go lesbian. "You know what, never mind. I'll be fine. I just need to go to the rink and skate out my anger, like usual." I turned around. "Michelle, thanks, though."

She nodded, smiling, and I walked out of the studio. Out in the parking lot, I expected to see Charlie's car.

Instead, I saw… Dez's. Resigning myself to my fate, I groaned and walked out towards his car. A ride home with Dez. This was how it all started. I glared at him as I slid inside. "What, did Charlie wimp out again?" "No, I asked him to let me pick you up." Okay, so he'd managed to surprise me. I didn't think he wanted anything to do with me, much less want to pick me up from ballet and talk to me.

"What do you want, Dez?" Maybe he wanted to tell me how much I sucked. How ugly I was and how much I wasn't good enough for him. I braced myself for the emotional impact of what he'd say. "Do you want to tell me how you're so happy I got dumped? How much you love seeing me in pain and humiliated?"

He looked genuinely shocked and hurt. "Is that what you think of me?"

"Well, what the hell else am I supposed to think?" I glared at him again. "You see me in the halls and you scowl. I smile at you and you turn around. Am I supposed to think you're happy and want to be friends?" "Mel, I don't understand you." He gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Am I supposed to be excited that you chose Jeff over me? What rational person would be in a good mood after finding out the person they love picked someone else? It's easier for me to just avoid you in the hallway, so I don't have to think about how damn much it hurts to see you with him."

I had not expected this. There were many things that had gone through my head, but this had been absolutely not one of them. Something akin to hope blossomed in my heart. It had been a few days since Jeff had broken up with me. Sure, most people would probably see it as a rebound if I went out with Dez, but none of them knew that Jeff had been my rebound. And Jeff had been right: I was way more into Dez than I had ever been into him. But if I was going to give Dez a second chance, I had to know he wouldn't ruin it. "Why?" My voice broke again. For some reason, it was making a day of it. That was like the third time it had happened. "Why did you tell Charlie we hadn't gone out? Why didn't you want to go to the dance with me?"

"I do have explanations," he said, looking into my eyes for as long as he could before he had to look back at the road.

"Then explain," I said coldly, not letting him have any inkling of my thoughts. I wasn't going to let him know I was considering taking him back, or that I was hoping he wasn't lying about his reasons.

"Okay, so you're going to laugh," he warned. "But I didn't tell Charlie about us because I didn't realize that when he said I took out his sister, he meant on a date."

I stared at him in confusion. "What the hell did you think it meant, that we took cooking lessons together?" "I don't know," he said honestly. "I said 'no' at first, and I was about to say 'I don't know'. But then I saw your face and I knew something was wrong. And then you left and I didn't know what I did and Charlie turned back to me and asked me if we had gone out. And I said 'yes'. He knew ever since then. I never his it from him. And I never intended to hide it from you. But then I found out you had a date with Jeff, and I couldn't tell you." I sat in silence, listening to him pour his heart out. Sure, it wasn't like he had gone and punched out Charlie for assuming the worst about me, but he hadn't hid it. And for that, I couldn't help but melt a little. "And I was banned from the dance because of the spray painted lockers. Your brother painted them and I walked up just before the principal, who saw me holding the cans when Charlie ran away, and banned me. As well as gave me three weeks of detention. I didn't want to keep you hidden from the world, Mel, but I didn't want you to think badly of me for not being allowed to go to the dance."

I knew he was done talking. Now it was my turn to make a decision. I figured I'd make him sit in silence for a while, make him suffer. He'd put me through enough. After a minute or two, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. After another minute, he spoke. "Mel?"

"Yeah," I looked over at him and smiled. And it said it all. I forgave him. I couldn't not. I had been fooling myself when I thought I didn't love him. Yes, when I said it, it had been a Freudian slip, but it was true. And that was usually the case for Freudian slips.

That was roughly when I realized something was wrong. "Dez, we aren't anywhere near my house…"

It was his turn to smile. "I know."

I was confused. "So, then, where are we going?"

"I have a surprise for you." With that, he settled back into his seat and we drove in silence. Puzzled, I tried to figure out where the hell we could be going. Eventually I gave up when we entered roads I didn't even recognize. I decided I'd just let myself be surprised.

I hopped out of the car when we pulled up to a barn that I… recognized. We were back at the art gallery. I sent him a confused and contemplative glance, but allowed him to take my hand and lead me into the gallery. It felt nice to have his hand hold mine again. It had been so long, and it felt so comforting to know we could be something again. I laced my fingers with his and just enjoyed watching his face as we walked in. As much as I loved the person underneath, I was so incredibly attracted to the exterior, too. Maybe it was the fact that I did love him, but I thought he was the most attractive male I'd ever seen.

We stepped inside the gallery and I was confused yet again. "Wait, Dez… these are my pictures!" I looked around in awe as I took in the photographs hanging on the walls. _My_ photographs. Photographs I had taken were on the walls sandwiched between Ansel Adams photographs. I turned back to him. "Oh my God, Dez, this is amazing! This is the best thing anyone's ever done for me!" I hugged him around the next and smiled as I felt a laugh rumble up from his chest and his arms wrap around me.

"Well, don't be too excited yet, because there's more." My eyes widened as he tugged me by my hand into the next room, where I was met by a sight I never thought I'd see.

Right there, on the floor in the middle of the gallery, were the words "Mel, prom?" spelled out in rose petals.

"I would have written 'will you go to prom with me?" but the lady at the flower store told me it would cost me at least another two hundred bucks, and, well," he laughed. "I don't have that kind of money."

I turned to him. "I…" I didn't know what to say. I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn't seem to make myself say the words. Instead, I pulled his head down and kissed him. It was the sweetest kiss we'd ever shared. I could almost feel the love he had for me in it, and I was sure he could sense my feelings, too. After what seemed like an extremely long and yet extremely short time, we broke the kiss. I smiled up at him. "Yes, I'll prom you." He laughed at my response to his semi-complete question. Sure, it wasn't a marriage proposal, but it was as close as it got. I lay my head on his shoulder and soaked in the perfect moment we were in.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey, guys, sorry for the semi-long wait. As of right now, this is the last chapter, but if I get enough reviews wanting me to continue, I'll keep going. As usual, read, review, and enjoy!**

"You want us to get ready together?" Cozette stared at me in complete disbelief. "You know she's not going to be happy about that."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I know. But you all need to get used to the fact that I'm friends with all of you, and it'd be awesome if you'd accept the fact I'd go Cleosmacktra for any of you. You could even try being friends."

Cozette snorted. "Yeah, like that's going to happen."

I gave her a smirk. "At least try."

After a minute, she rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll try. But they're the ones you're really going to have to work on." It seemed she couldn't resist tacking on that last part, and I couldn't resist smiling at it. She wasn't as close to me as the bunheads, but she was my closest other friend. And they were all going to have to get used to the fact that I was friends with them all.

"Alright," Ginny dropped her bag full of stuff on my bedroom floor. "Let's do this shit."

I sent her a sideways look. "You know, you're far too willing for this. What's going on?"

"Nothing," she said, a smile flirting with corners of her mouth and clearly indicating that, as always, "nothing" meant "something".

"Okay, really? Do you think I don't watch movies?" I asked, my hands on my hips. I glanced at the other three girls in the room, and I saw identical smirks and knowing looks. "What the hell is going on?"

"We're, um…" Ginny glanced at the other girls. "We're already friends."

"_What_?" How was that even possible? Ginny hated Cozette. And so, by extension, did Sasha and Boo. "When did this happen and why did I miss it?"

"It happened two weeks ago when you and Dez were working out your thing." It was Cozette who responded. "You asked me to get ready with you guys and I decided to extend the olive branch. I think Ginny wanted to get back at my brother by being around constantly and taunting him-" she turned to Ginny "-and by the way it's working. So she decided we could be friends of a common enemy, and then we actually became friends."

"And as goes Ginny," Boo chimed in. "So do we."

I stared dumbfounded at all of my friends. "Okay, then," I said after a moment or two. "We have a prom to get ready for."

"Whoa," Ginny breathed as I stepped out of the bathroom. I walked over to the mirror and was taken aback. "Whoa" was right. I looked… like an actual girl. It was surprising. Deep blue chiffon swirled in a ruffled skirt around my legs, and climbed up my torso to a sheer sweep over one shoulder. My hair had been carefully coiffed into curls held precariously in place by bobby pins. My face didn't even look like my own anymore through the eyeliner that was currently making me look more like a genie than a girl going to her prom. And my feet were already aching from the five inch sapphire torture devices I'd strapped to them. I figured if I was going to try to look like a girl, I might as well go all out.

"Dude," Sasha said, her eyebrows raised. "You look hot."

As much as I hated it, I could feel a blush creeping up into my face, the heat disturbing in its unwelcomeness. I never blushed. Ever. Figured Dez'd bring it out of me. "Yeah, um, can we just go?"

Cozette, Sasha, Boo, and Ginny all smirked but nodded their agreement. I knew right then that prom night would end up being as fun as we had dreamed about our whole lives and the movies promised.

"They're right," Dez whispered to me later that night when we were dancing. "You look beautiful."

I stared up at him, bemused. Actually, we were pretty close to the same height now, thanks to my murderous heels. "You still manage to surprise me, Desmond." I smiled when he scrunched his nose at his real name. "When I first met you, until the night of the fire, actually, I kind of thought you were dopey. And then you surprised me, because you can be really sweet. And really angry."

He smiled. I loved his smile. I loved everything about him. I thought about how rare that was in high school, and how shocked I was that it actually happened to me. It was amazing that I, Melanie Segal, the girl who was just enough of a girl to do ballet, found a guy that I loved when it was so rare that a girl would. Maybe we wouldn't be together for the rest of our lives. I knew it was a possibility, and I could deal with it. But for the time being, I was just going to enjoy Dez and being with him.

"Mel?" His voice cut into my inner monologue and I looked up at his smiling eyes.

"Yeah, sorry." I smiled apologetically.

He shook his head at me. "I'm still that dopey guy. You just know me better now and can ignore it." He grinned hugely and I shook my head at this playful side of his nature. I found he liked teasing me, which worked out well, because I loved teasing him, too. I laid my head on his shoulder and we lapsed into silence as we danced to Celine Dion crooning that her heart would go on.

A few songs later, I lifted my head and looked at him. "Dez? Can I ask you something?"

His eyebrows drew together in confusion, but he nodded. "What's up?"

"Where did you get the clothes you wore on our first date?"

He laughed. "You still think about that?" I nodded, entirely serious. He shook his head. "My dad died a few years ago. My mom still hasn't gotten rid of any of his stuff, so I figured I might as well put it to use."

"I'm so sorry, Dez." I knew it couldn't have been easy for him, seeing as Charlie was his best friend, and Charlie was… well, Charlie. "Do mind if I ask how he died?"

He shook his head. "He was a Marine. He died fighting for our freedom." He smiled slightly. "I'm so proud of him."

I nodded, smiling. "You should be. And I'm sure he'd be proud of you, too."

He shared my smile and nudged my head back to his shoulder. Unwilling to resist the comfort I felt in his arms, I let him. I glanced around, looking at the prom-goers in the school gym. Cozette was surrounded by a group of tuxedo-clad admirers clearly fawning over her beauty. I smiled inwardly. It was just the way she'd want it. Sasha and Roman were dancing, so close together they looked like one black blob with two heads. My inner smile widened. Roman really was the perfect guy for Sasha. And my inner grin shook it's head as I saw Boo and Carl doing the jitterbug to their own imaginary music in the middle of the floor. It was just so like them. And both of them were dressed in vintage clothes, making them look like some odd piece of the '50s that had been transported to the present day and plopped into our prom. My gaze moved to Ginny, and my inner… whatever it was stopped smiling. Ginny was trying to pull her hand from Frankie's, who appeared to be trying to win her back. I was about ready to leave Dez behind and go Cleosmacktra on his ass for hurting my friend when Charlie stepped in. I relaxed, knowing that while my brother wasn't always the most reliable person on the planet, I could trust him in this. I closed my eyes and soaked in the perfectness of that moment.

But my contentment was short lived. Cozette rushed over and jerked me out of Dez's arms to participate in a dance we'd done for Miss Fanny one time. As I executed moves that were muscle memory to me, I saw Dez smiling at me and knew that the perfect moment hadn't yet ended.

**The End**


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